Wow. Today has been totally unproductive. Well, I can’t say totally. I did go through all the pictures I’ve taken since I left Oklahoma and got them all organized. I also went through every SD card that I own (9) and figure out what was on them, delete unnecessary things and get those all organized. What else did I do? Ummmmmmmmmmm, I read through a really awesome blog about making your own home fragrances. The wood glue they use on the cabinets here smells awful! Really, it just makes you want to gag when you open a cabinet. So, I’m going to do my own home fragrances. Might as well, since I’ll be home most days. It will save on the air fresheners and will be better for the environment. Not that I’m an environmental nut, but it’s still a valid point. Besides, who doesn’t love the smell of fresh fruit and spices wafting about?
The one thing I meant to do today (and didn’t) was make a list of things we need to buy for our apartment. The one we thought we would have at the beginning of this week kinda fell apart. Not the apartment. The contract. There is this clause that Troy’s company wants in all their rental contracts that the owner didn’t like. Basically, it says that if the government changes their mind and cancels the contract with Troy’s company, we can get out of the lease with only a two-month penalty. Not that we would have to pay it, but the company would. We had talked with Mohan (owner) about it on Sunday when we met him and paid the security fee, but somehow, between Sunday and Monday, he changed his mind. He had said on Monday that that type of clause was standard procedure, but when Flora (realtor) sent Troy the lease agreement, she didn’t have that clause in there. Troy added and sent it back to her for approval and that’s when things started falling apart. She said if we wanted that clause in there, we would have to forgo all of our ‘perks’. The things we had requested were: bigger tv (Troy didn’t like the 32-inch), internet and cable to be included in the rent, a mattress pad for both beds (they are so freakin hard!) and an extension for the computer desk so Troy could put all three of his monitors up. They were okay with everything for the most part, except the mattress pads. Flora’s husband and I kinda got into it because he kept telling Troy (not me) that the hard mattress would be better for my back than a softer one because the mattress has a sticker on it that says ‘Chiropractor Approved’. Every time I told the guy that it was too hard, he would tell Troy to sit on it and agree that it was fine. Every comment I made, the guy would ignore and address Troy. I finally got upset and told him I could make decisions about my own body and that just because I’m a female doesn’t mean I don’t have a mind of my own. Troy, ever the peacemaker, said he would make sure I got a bed I can sleep on or work something out so that I won’t be in pain every night. He was very sweet about it. I did glare at the other guy, though. Most guys here have been pretty polite to me and fairly friendly, so that was my first time dealing with the old-school Muslim attitude. I guess I shouldn’t say it’s a Muslim attitude, but more of an Asian attitude. I don’t know. But it was my first time dealing with that. I did pretty well for the first little bit, but after a while I got irritated. I really do need to work on being more patient and understanding with the culture here.
So, yeah, Troy wasn’t okay with the ‘perks’ being taken away, so he nixed that one. Flora tried for two more days to negotiate a compromise, but Mohan wouldn’t agree to the clause and the items we wanted. There was another apartment that we both liked (didn’t have as good a view as the one we’d tried for) that was RM 5,400 (Mohan’s was RM 5,500) and it included internet and cable, so we are trying for that one now. Troy liked this one better than Mohan’s, but I wanted a better view (and a separate washer and dryer), so he put in for Mohan’s because I liked it better. I just don’t really want to look at construction all day. Oh well. If we move a chair to the opposite side of the window, I can read and see a bit of sky. We tried to come up with a way to change the room around, but the tv stand and the shelves are all built into the walls, so we can’t move stuff. Kinda sucks, but oh well. I’m going to print a bunch of Troy’s pictures of home and put them on the walls. I brought a few pictures of my family and some temples and Jesus, so those will go up, too. My family ones will go in my bedroom, though. Troy and I are roommates, not a family.
Anyways, my goal for today had been to make up a list of things we need, a list of things I want and a list of things Troy wants. Troy never did send me a list of things he wants, so I’ll need to sit with him tonight and talk with him about it. I figure if I can come up with price ranges for all the things we need and want, we can better figure out what we are going to get. His company is going to give us RM 1,500 (about $485) to get things for the apartment, so that money will go more towards bed sheets, bath towels, misc kitchen items, hand soap, dish soap, etc. Oh, and bug spray. Apparently, there are bed bugs here. Well, those are all over the world, but still, they are here. I have a few little red bumps on my legs and Troy said they are from bed bugs. I was cutting one open last night to try to find the bug, but Troy told me they aren’t like ticks, so that made me feel a bit better. I still don’t like the idea of bugs, though. I did some research on bed bugs last night and I’m glad they don’t pass along diseases, but I still don’t want them in my bed. So, when we get our apartment, I’m going to spray down the mattresses and couches. Troy said we will most likely get keys to the apartment in the evening (not sure what day) and can take a few things over that night, but still stay at the hotel, so I will spray down some stuff then. We may spend an extra night at the hotel, depending on when we get the keys and if we do, I’ll spray down the mattresses and couch again and open some windows to air the place out. Hopefully that will help.
I did start a blog earlier, but I fell asleep after one paragraph. It felt good to get some extra sleep. I’ve been waking up at 6am when Troy gets up so that we can go to the executive lounge and have breakfast together and then doing stuff all day. Nothing strenuous, but I haven’t taken any naps for the most part. There was one other day I took an inadvertent nap (another time I started a blog haha), but that’s it. We stay up pretty late most nights, so it was nice to get some extra sleep. I ended up sleeping for about three hours.
Well, Troy is home now and we are going to go get some dinner. Yay for food!
